Security 101: July 2013

Some people are saying that it is cost-effective to not purchase any security products and just use Linux. Is it safe?

It is not true that by using Linux you’re completely safe and you don’t need any security solution at all.

It is true though, that Linux is not as targeted as Windows is.

Many threats are only partially dependent on the operating system and the tendency is that software becomes more and more independent of the operating system. This means that there is a high risk to become a victim of cyber criminals no matter what operating system you are using.

Only by using a security solution you can protect yourself against these threats.

Security systems come in many forms, like antivirus software, firewalls, malware scanner, anti-intrusion, mobile security and so on.How many programs do we really need to properly secure our devices?

Each user is using the computer a bit different than others. This is why the amount of security software depends in the end on the user and on how the user is using his computer. Most threats come these days from the Internet, and if you’re connecting to the Internet (and who isn’t?) you should have a security solution installed that is able to protect you against these threats.

There is however the danger of overprotecting – meaning that it is possible to install so many security products that the computer becomes overloaded and the user is not able to do his work normally anymore. This is why it is advisable to use a security suite instead of installing all kind of products each coming from various producers.